Setting Up the Approval Unit Hierarchy

When you create an Approval Unit Hierarchy, you can select one of these approval templates:

• Consolidation—Used for locking and unlocking only. When an application is created, the system automatically creates an Approval Unit Hierarchy named Total Geography. This Approval Unit Hierarchy contains all entities under the Total Geography hierarchy. The approval template assigned to this Approval Unit Hierarchy is Consolidation.

• Consolidation - Bottom Up —Used for the approval process.

• Consolidation – Separate Approve and Lock—Allows the approval and lock processes to be performed by different users. You can assign one group of users to approve the entity, and another group of users to lock the entity.

When you select to enable approvals for the hierarchy, you can specify whether to include new entities or shared instances. If you select the All option, new entities or shared instances are automatically included. If you select the All - include if parent is selected option, a new entity or shared instance is included only if its immediate parent is also selected as part of the Approval Unit Hierarchy.

To set up an approval unit hierarchy:

1. Click the Navigator icon , and then under Workflow, click Approval Unit.
2. Take an action:
   • To create a new hierarchy, click .
   • To edit an existing hierarchy, select an approval unit hierarchy, and click .
3. Select Approvals Dimension.
4. In Hierarchy Name, specify the approval unit hierarchy name.
5. Optional: Specify a description.
6. For Enable Approvals, select an option:

   • None—Includes no approval units in the approval process by default

     To add approval unit groups or individual approval units to the approval process, see Selecting Approval Unit Hierarchy Members.

   • All—Adds all approval units to the approval process

   • Custom—Enables you to add individual approval units, and approval unit groups based on Parent member and generation criteria

   • All-Include if parent is selected—Adds a new approval unit to the approval process only if its parent is also selected as part of the approval unit hierarchy

7. From Approvals Template, select an option:

   • Consolidation

   • Consolidation - Bottom Up

   • Consolidation – Separate Approve and Lock

8. For Cube, leave the default setting of Consol .
9. For Extended Approval Flow, select an option:

   • None—The approval workflow will use the Entity dimension only and not use approval groups. You'll make your Entity member selections on the Select Primary Members tab.

   • Approval Group—Enables you to assign approval groups to the approvals workflow. You can create approval groups or select existing approval groups on the Assign Approval Groups tab. See Managing Approval Phases. This option is available if either the Consolidation - Bottom Up or Consolidation - Separate Approve and Lock template is selected.

10. Optional: Select Extended Approval Flow Apply at All Levels—(This option is only available if the Approval Group option is selected.) Applies the Extended Approval Flow option to all levels in the approval unit hierarchy.
11. Optional: Select Phase Dependency—(This option is only available if the Approval Group option is selected.) Requires the approval workflow to be submitted in phases based on the order of entries you defined.

    For example, the first entry in the list must be promoted before the second entry. Note that both entries can be at the same level, but the second entry cannot be promoted before the first entry. Hence the order of the entries is important. You can rearrange the order using the up and down arrows.

12. Take an action:

    • If you selected None for Extended Approval Flow, make your approval unit hierarchy member selections on the Select Primary Members tab. Click Next or select the Select Primary Members tab.

    • If you selected Approval Group for Extended Approval Flow, you'll select the approval unit hierarchy approval groups and members on the Assign Approval Groups and Select Primary Members tabs. Click Next or select the Assign Approval Groups tab. See Assigning Approval Groups to an Approval Unit Hierarchy.

    • Click Save and then OK to save changes and close the approval unit hierarchy.